BELGRADE (Serbia), Nov. 18 (SeeNews) – The ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total loans in the Serbian banking sector stood at 3.55% at the end of September, central bank governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic said on Thursday .

“The preserved quality of banks’ assets is best illustrated by a high capital adequacy, as well as by the share of non-performing loans in total loans, which is below the pre-crisis level and amounted in September to 3.55%, ”Tabakovic said in Remarks on the presentation of the November 2021 NBS inflation report posted on the bank’s website.

Earlier this month, Ognjen Popovic, adviser to Finance Minister Sinisa Mali, said the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans in the Serbian banking sector had fallen to 3.5% by the end of August, supported by auction for their sale and regulatory reforms.

“A drastic drop in non-performing loans has been achieved thanks to an overall change in the legal framework, as well as the strengthening of institutions and the adoption of statutes, which have enabled banks and other financial institutions to solve this problem”, Popovic said. at the time.

The central bank of Serbia began to monitor non-performing loans regularly in 2008. After a temporary decline in the second half of 2012, the ratio of non-performing loans rose again in 2013 and continued to grow in 2014, reaching a record high of 22.5% in 2015.